All is good in Boulder, and it feels to right. The Buffs have a chance to compete for the Big XII North title, and the opportunity to go to the Dr.Pepper Big XII championship game in the final year we are here is a real possibility.
Let’s go through this… Mizzou is the first-come first-serve big test of the year. The Buffs always have trouble with the Tigers, and CU hasn’t won on the road since ’07. But we are coming off a big win, even if it was against 1-4 Georgia. SEC is still SEC, Mississippi St would have been a bowl worthy team the last 5 years if they didn’t have to go through the SEC. Also Mizzou has bigger issues than us. A week after they play us they go to College Station to play once ranked Texas A&M, a tough place to play. The week after that they have #6 Oklahoma, then #7 Nebraska the next week. They’ll look past us faster than a teenage McDonald’s cashier with Pamela Anderson at the end of the line. Kansas St is 4-0, and have yet to leave the Little Apple. They are different team with Snyder at the helm, but they get to come to Folsom where the Buffs tend to play better. We get them, ISU, Texas Tech and Baylor at home; all should put the spread in our favor. Kansas on the road should be interesting. They can be okay, and they can be awful. Either way we should take care of them easily. Oklahoma is Oklahoma, especially in Norman. And then when we play, now #7 Nebraska they could be undefeated in the National Championship picture. Wouldn’t that be the sweetest game, to be playing for revenge… to ruin their National Title Hopes… for the Big XII North title… the last time we play them in what will probably be a long time with the conference switches… and if that’s not enough, its Nebraska.
I got really excited above. That probably won’t happen. We won’t play like we did against Georgia, it’ll be tough to get ‘8-year-old kid eating Pixie Stick on Christmas Eve’ hyped like that. But if we play the way we are capable we can do it.
Now some more Buffs talk. If you watch the game, how pretty was that first drive?? Took 8 minutes off the clock, all runs except one play, had a little ‘knock them in the mouth’, ‘we’re gonna be here all night’ mentality. I loved it. Stick to the run and we’ll be fine; forget about style points.
And some more. Rushing the field wasn’t the classiest move ever but hey we needed it. The students that go to CU haven’t seen 4 quarters of play by the Buffs in a long time. And we all need something to feel good about. (But even better that most of the players weren’t into it. BJ Beaty didn’t leave the sideline to be in the mob. Tyler Hansen simply walked off the field, well as much as you can being the starting quarterback after a big win and being mobbed by drunk co-eds. That was nice to see they had perspective in the midst of it all.) It was the first time since 1979 the Folsom saw an SEC team, kinda historic. But if we rush for a win against Baylor I’m gonna change my mind.
Lots more stuff. The strategy to go for 2 was s head-scratcher. Luckily we got it. But what if we hadn’t converted? Not to mention, on the last Georgia drive all they needed a field goal to win, but if it had been a tie game the Bulldogs would have been content to keep the ball on the ground and let their strong-legged kicker give it a boot in the high altitude. It was also the first time we showed the swinging gate all season, why show this trick play so early. Teams are going to be ready for it because they know we are willing to do it at any time. But that may be a good thing, and I can’t complain much more… we made it and won by 2.
Even more. They honored the 1990 National Title team over the weekend and I bet they could still compete with this team. They are as big as all of the current team. Hagan and Bienemy could run the be the starting 1-2 punch on most any team now. Okay, maybe not but that would be cool and I’d love to see what the spread would be. (As they were coming out of the tunnel there were only 2 types of players. One was the ‘Oh man, why is this guy running out with the 1990 team, they should strap it up right now. 20 years isn’t a long time, he’s still in football shape.’ And the other one, ‘Okay, 20 years is a really looooong time. This guy looks like he needs a beer.’
What can you say, it’s a fun time in Boulder. It’s an even better time when the football team is playing well. Keep it up.
Optimism has turned to out-right fantasy world there in Boulder. You guys got spanked 52-7 by Cal. The very next week Nevada hung 52 on Cal. So far this year you have beat a terrible CSU team, a horrible Hawaii team, and an average Georgia team( a game which you probably lose if the running back doesnt cough up the football in the last two minutes). Oklahoma and Nebraska will smack you guys around pretty good, probably 30 point victories there. Baylor and Texas Tech will probably hang a hundred points combined on your less-than mediocre defense. Sorry buddy, Buffs finish 4-8 this year ( still better than a one win season for CSU ill give you that!)
ReplyDeleteDon't forget this is the same team that lost 52-7 to a team that's only other win came against UC Davis. Don't forget that Hawk has won what 2 road games?
ReplyDeleteOn the plus side, 250+ rush yards against any SEC defense is sick. Hansen makes way more plays than last year with both feet and arm.
I'm thinking we'll be bowling, but don't get get too excited.
Also, imagine if we had Bama's sched: Penn State, Arkansas, Florida, South Carolina, Ole Miss, Tennessee, LSU, Mississippi St, Georgia St, Auburn. And they are blowing everyone off the field. Ridiculous.
Optimism is a great word there Chad. The disparity of talent across the major college football teams... just doesn't exist. We see that with Boise State.
ReplyDeleteAnd let me talk on the Cal game for a second. Cal is good; they were ranked, lost to #10 Arizona who scored with 3 minutes to play to put them up a single point. And I hate to make excuses but to defend myself I have to use one. We played bad, on our first 5 possessions we lost yards. Their offense was on the field 10 minutes in the first quarter. We gave up bad field position and before you know it we're down 31, and by then we've completely packed it in.
But to say our defense is shotty just isn't true. We have a solid D-line, experienced backers and a secondary that is hit my numerous injuries has 2 of the better corners in the conference. Its not great, but if any defense is on the field in crucial moments as much as ours is anyone is bound to give up some yards and points.
I see the road games being a problem. But again I gonna go with the theme of this comments, positivity. We have not won on the road in a long time, we're due. We play Mizzou, OU, Kansas and Nebraska on the road; we're not supposed to win more than one. So there is nothing to lose... we struggle on the road already and these will be big games so let loose and fly around and see what happens.
So lets say we only get Kansas, we only have to go .500 at home to go to a bowl. I think we can easily do that, barring some foreseen tragedy. Baylor's wins came against Kansas, then it drops off to Rice, Buffalo and Sam Houston St.
Liked the post. I think that the Buffs did show a side we have not seen in years. I liked the multiple running backs who could see the wholes and for the most part hit them. I think that UGA deserves a bit more credit being as two of the loses came from now number one in the nation Bama, and then number ten in the nation Arkansas. I think the part about Baylor is a bit of a stretch. They have won every game this year, and not only have they won but they have won in style they are averaging a difference of 32 points per game in each victory. But I liked the tone of the post, and hope like most Buffs fans that CU is no longer the door mat of the Big 12 and soon the Pac12.
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